Language:
English
Year of publication:
1989
Titel der Quelle:
The Cambridge History of Judaism II
Angaben zur Quelle:
(1989) 614-656
Keywords:
Antisemitism History To 500
;
Greek literature History and criticism
;
Antisemitism History To 500
;
Hellenism
Abstract:
Examines early Greek writings (4th-1st centuries BCE) on the Jews. The works of the 4th century show a positive impression of Jewish wisdom and some discussion of Jewish life and customs. Important historians, however, evince ignorance of Jews and their history right up to the Roman era. Anti-Judaism, though, was an Egyptian phenomenon, arising in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE when the Jewish community had to defend its identity and history in the face of the hostile traditions of Egyptian history, and establish its own tradition in competition with those of Egypt and Greece. These clashes aroused accusations against the Jews in the 2nd-1st centuries, which were spread in Greek polemical works (e.g. Appolonius Molon's "Against the Jews") and in Seleucid propaganda. Discusses writings by Jews (e.g. Josephus) and non-Jews (e.g. Strabo) in opposition to these accusations. Contends that Manetho did not mention the Jews at all in his works - references to them were inferred by later writers. Concludes that until the middle of the 1st century, and even later, the Greek and Roman view of Judaism continued essentially to pass through the filter of Egyptian history - i.e. through a hostile tradition.
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